While trying to gather information about DCC I found that there seemed to be a lot of members interested in this type of informational topic at this site.
I personaly feel it could become a great benifit for new and advanced modelers as well as the DCC Corner articles.
I would be interested. Of course, Randy would probably have to be hired full-time in order to answer all the questions that he already is answering for FREE…(Thanks, Randy! [:)])
Tom
Definitely. A lot of Q & A out here on the subject, and putting it in one place would be good, especially for those looking for answers or a life preserver.
Yes, a DCC forum would be great, especially for people like me who have not used DCC yet.
Stan.
Randy for President!
Why, gee, thanks guys!
[:I][:I][:I]
MR already has a DCC guy though. What’s funny though is finding an article in an old issue on the club Mike belonged to when he was in college. hehehe Amazingly enough, my shcool did not have a MRR club, odd for an engineerign school that was FOUNDED to train railroad engineers (civil and mechanical, not toot-toot), and produced a number of the presidents of the former Reading railroad, among others.
–Randy
I had to vote no. I think it is a good idea more or less, but every time I ask a question about something dealing with electronics, I get a response that implies I am as stupid about electronics as I really am, or I get an answer that is so far beyond my comprehension that I have to laugh (or kill something). I think this might remain a problem if a forum were developed. An entry level person might ask what is, to him, a rational question. Then some super nerd will provide an answer that only a degreed electrical engineer can comprehend. True, there may be a lot of help in a forum set up, but I venture to guess there will be frustration and hard feelings as well.
It’s a good thing I am most always in the minority with my opinions. It generates some rather interesting feedback.
Tom
You Betcha!
DCC is a lot bigger than the few listed CVs, but its near impossible to gain access to information about optional programming, circuit design, capabilites, development, and etc…
[^] REX [^]
Tom, I agree with you, and expressed my reservations in another related thread that generated this one. It will have to be newbie friendly or it will become a repository for arcana, and a club for the nerds and gods (Randy in the latter category…although I wish he would speak the king’s English; can’t understand half of what he says to us).
-Crandell
Sure, why not have another DCC forum.
The newer post entitled “DCC made easy” asking for a simplified explanation of the workings of DCC should again answer that need…
Tom
I think you’re referring to my reply in Spacemouse’s P2K dilema. “I did to the Stewart loco.” I guess the point of that was, you don’t have to understand what did, because even I am not going to go through that hassle again.
Please, anyone, if you don’t get it, say so - let me know what you didn’t get so I can try another method of explaining it. When I answer someone’s question I try to base the answer on the level that the question was asked. Sometimes additional replies get added to a particular thread and it goes off in a slightly different direction, or someone’s followup was in more technical detail that the original question, and when someone asks a question using correct technical details, I can only assume the person has some sort of understanding. I don’t want people going away from reading the answer to their question thinking they didn’t get an answer, just a bunch of technical mumbo-jumbo.
The real bottom line with DCC is that the actual layout wiring is MUCH easier than with DC control. There are a lot of complex things that go on inside a decoder, a booster, and a command station, but you do NOT need to know them to use DCC. All that’s really needed is to know that the throttle plugs in HERE and THESE wires here go to the track. How all the bits fly around inside the boxes so that the throttle you have set to address 2102 controls loco 2102 is not really important UNLESS you are a techie.
–Randy
I’m a little confused here, which is not unusual. For those who are opposed to a DCC forum because the general tone of those discussions goes either above or below them, I’d think they’d want those threads in a separate forum. It’s just one less thread you have to ignore in the general forum, unless you enjoy reading them for the aggravation. Even then, you still have the option of going to that forum.
Sort of like the guy who seemed to be trying to drum up interest in or validate virtual modeling. If that takes off and they were in here wanting to have their own forum, I’d vote for it because I have absolutely no interest in it. Put it in one place where those who want the information or want to participate in the discussion can, and those who don’t can avoid even seeing the threads.
All we are really talking about is organizing the discussions in one place.
Randy,
Where did you go to school?
Yup, sometimes your answers are a little above my abilities, but then of course it makes me want to learn more. Isn’t that what it’s all about? Of course I would like to point out that when it comes to DCC you are way up there in the knowledge department, but I have never seen even a hint of a “I am god” attitude - even though you have the qualifications. I applaud your willingness to help out others - regardless of how simple the answer may seem. Guys like you are what makes this hobby great and this forum a great source of information. I wonder how many folks on here are enjoying the hobby more because of you and those like you. I bet it’s alot!
Dave
I graduated from Lehigh University, BSEE '88.
Thank you for your thoughts. I try not to go into lecture mode when answering questions - I know there are people who know more about this than I do. Until not all that long ago, I didn’t know much about DCC either. I guess I have an advantage goign with with an EE background, but I think my greatest strength comes in learning new things (sounds like a job evaluation or something - well, because I get that a lot!), so when I head off into something I know nothing about, I generally pick it up fairly rapidly. I know not everyone is like that.
IMO, the hardest thing for a person to overcome is not their lack of knowledge, but their fear of learning.
–Randy
Adelie:
Very well put. The addition of a seperate MR forum for DCC discussion could easily meet the needs of users at all levels of expertise, just as the other forums presently do.
Nerds? Techies? You have the same in the existing forums, but help is still provided to all: beginner, intermediate, advanced.
REX
Amen to all of that.
I hope I didn’t offend with my ‘nerd and god’ remark. I merely wanted us to keep in mind that discussions are available to all for access, and that new people will be unnecessarily put off if there is a heavy leaning towards advanced engineering principles and terminology when, as we discussed in a thread not long ago, we need new blood in a hobby that is changing the way it runs trains. New folks will quickly realize that they have to master this DCC thing, access the forum, and if they start at the most recent page, will it have fallen into arcane discussions that drive them away?
Rex has thoughfully said that there is room for everyone, and Randy clearly has an interest and a gift for the subject. He does a good job of explaining, but I have never held a resistor in my hands, and am all thumbs when it comes to soldering. It is hard for me to visualize what is being described. That is my limitation, to be sure, and many others will be well served by Randy’s descriptions…and perscriptions (hence the title “Doc”.)
Anyway, I’m all for the forum. Bring it on…PUHLEEEEEEESSE!
Thank you for your comments to this poll. I have gathered a wealth of information from most of the above members. I truly value any information and wish I could shake every ones hand, This is an exceptionaly great group of people here, I may not agree with everyones openion, but I do respect them.
My main thought of this Poll is that I go to other sites to help me in my quest for knowledge trying to understand DCC. I trully enjow this site and if there was an easy way to search especialy a condensed topic, would only use this fine site to do so.
The first time I read DCC made easy I just put it back in the bookcase and hoped latter, perhaps by osmosis, I might understand it, was at the point that perhaps I was returning to the wrong hobby. Now getting it down a bit, almost to the point of taking the plunge into DCC. But need to a few get more ducks in a row before doing so.
Have a great day …John
At first, I was against the idea but in thinking…
Soundtraxx has a Yahoo forum.
So does Litchfield Station.
IMHO, they’re pretty good. Flare ups do occur occasionally, but they cool down almost immedietly.
In thinking about it, a DCC forum might be beneficial, however, what I would not want to see happen is the following:
Bergie and his colleagues proceed to provide us with a DCC forum. Let’s say it’s a hit and it works! However, some modelers continue to post DCC related questions on this General Discussion forum, and right away some posters “hostily or curtly” tell the poster to pose his question on the DCC forum. Not cool!
This General Discussion forum should always be open to any model railroad related questions. As long as that’s agreed upon by all of us, I feel that a DCC forum may work.
In fact, I may get in trouble for this, but someone explain to me the purpose of the
“Where is the MR 70th Anniversary Boxcar?” To date, there are 41 responses on that thread, which as been around for a while. If that Forum can exist with only 41 responses in the past few years, then a DCC forum would, IMHO, definetly get a lot more responses than that.
Jwar,
I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve e-mailed this topic to Bergie. It’s a good one!
Hopefully, he’ll respond soon and let us know if this is a reasonable idea!
Peace!
I have mixed feelings about a DCC specific forum.
One more forum to haunt, and it splinters the audience. I don’t post or read the Layouts and Layout Building forum because the audience is less than 10% of what the general forum is.
Along this line, I thought I would mention that once the Scenery FORUM CLINIC finishes up, I’m going to start a DCC forum clinic to share what I’ve learned in 12 years of using DCC on my Siskiyou Line – in the general discussion area, by the way.